Chapter 3: Allons-y!
Hi everyone! I've been so super-mega busy with school projects that I haven't had much time for writing, but I think the work overload has been enough to motivate me to write. Any excuse to procrastinate, am I right? Hope you enjoy the third installment!
Kenzie Perth: Aww, you're so nice, thank you! Between your glitter and Pergjithshme's confetti, my story and I are now officially colorful and sparkly, and this makes me happy! :D
"I love it when they ask that," the Doctor said, beaming. "Gets me every time. It's just…the Doctor. My name is the Doctor." Before the couple could comment, the Doctor suddenly snapped his fingers and dramatically pointed at them as if something had suddenly occurred to him. "Oh! You're the Mustangs, aren't you?"
"We were about to be," Roy informed him, "until you did…whatever that was…and made it rain on our wedding." Roy had never seen this man in his life, but it was not uncommon for someone to recognize a hero of Amestris. News of the wedding had, no doubt, spread across the land.
"Right…sorry about that," the Doctor said, apologizing once more. "Should be temporary. It'll clear up in a day or so, I imagine."
Roy seemed perfectly content with the strange man's recognition of them, but it made Riza uneasy. "You called us the Mustangs. Everyone knows our wedding was set for today, but you act like we've been married for a while now. You told us your name, but who are you really?" she demanded.
"Calm down a moment, and I'll tell you," the Doctor promised her. "It would be nice if we could get out of the rain, though. Why don't we head back to my ship? We can talk there."
There was that word again. Ship. Fuery used it on the day Roy proposed to Riza, but he'd used it as a verb in reference to the team's mental pairing of the two. The young Lieutenant Colonel had yet to fully explain it, but Roy preferred to stay out of that world if he could avoid it. Fuery seemed to think the world would be run by technology one day, but Roy highly doubted it.
"Your ship?" Riza asked skeptically.
"You really don't trust me," the Doctor noted. "Oh, come on! I've got a trusting face, see?" He flashed a wide, toothy grin, and even pointed at his face for emphasis. Riza was unfazed. "Blimey. All right. Enjoy your rain, then." With that, the Doctor tossed the useless device aside, shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked away.
"Don't follow him, Roy," Riza warned her partner. "I know how you alchemists are." She crossed her arms and started toward the car, looking forward to a nice, hot shower. "You put curiosity over reason every time, and it makes it so much harder to watch your back." Riza paused, realizing she could no longer feel Roy's presence beside her, and turned in dread to see her husband-to-be trailing the Doctor. "Dammit, Roy," she scowled, sloshing through the muddy puddles that were collecting in the grass from the steadily-pouring rain.
"You don't have to come with me," Roy told her as she carefully picked her way over to him.
"Don't be a moron," was all she needed to say. Maneuverability was so much harder in the wedding gown; she would smack him later. Really, he made no sense sometimes! Why did alchemists have such an insatiable obsession with knowledge? They often put their own safety at risk just to discover some truth or other, and Roy Mustang was no different. He frequently wore an eager, almost hungry expression that Riza dubbed his I-have-to-study-it face. The Elric brothers often had a similar countenance, and Riza could almost swear that Alchemists have a universal desire to study anything and everything. Who cares about staying alive, right? Priorities matter.
It was difficult to move quietly in the pouring rain; both Roy and Riza suspected the Doctor had long since noticed they were following him, but if he did, he gave no indication. He just kept sauntering along, humming a little and seeming almost carefree. If Roy had not taken a good look at the man's eyes while the trio was conversing, he would have pinned the Doctor as cheerful and downright untroubled. Roy knew better, though, and wondered if Riza had caught it as well. The deep, kind brown eyes of the Doctor…they were the eyes of a killer. A killer who had seen too much pain, suffering, and death to ever go back to the way things were before. A killer filled with such deep regret that it followed him everywhere, no matter how happy-go-lucky he made himself out to be. Roy carried this same burden and knew all too well how to identify it in others. One glance at Riza indicated she had also noticed; despite the inner tirade about idiotic alchemists that was more than likely going on in her mind at the moment, Roy could tell she was intrigued by the man as well.
The couple trailed the Doctor for about five minutes before coming to a stop in front of a large blue box. Neither Roy nor Riza knew what to make of it. On the top, it read "Police Public Call Box" and appeared to have a door. Roy immediately connected it to a telephone booth, though they could not see inside it. The "Police" label could have something to do with the military police, but a more burning question was how the box had gotten there in the first place. It didn't appear to have wheels or any other visible method of transporting it. It had certainly not been there before, so someone must have gotten it there somehow.
Riza cast a sideways glance at her partner; she could practically see his wheels turning. "Why don't you just ask him?" she suggested.
"Welcome to the TARDIS," the Doctor proclaimed without turning around. He did not sound at all surprised they had followed him, and his tone indicated he had recited these words many times before.
Roy's curiosity got the better of him. "Is that what you call it?" he asked, taking a tentative step forward.
The Doctor turned to face them, smiling faintly. "Yes. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. She's my home. Sort of. Do you want to come inside?"
Every scientific bone in Roy's body screamed at the impossibility of the three of them fitting inside it, let alone a man living there. The box didn't exactly look portable. Intent on having his questions answered, Roy nodded. "I'll just…look from the outside," he said.
"Suit yourself," the Doctor said, opening the TARDIS. "Come closer; she won't bite!"
She. As if it was sentient. Confident to quench his thirst for knowledge so he could go home satisfied and get cleaned up, Roy strode to the TARDIS and peeked inside. What he saw made him stumble backward in shock.
Riza raced to his side immediately, wondering if it had hurt him. It took a lot to alarm Roy Mustang, so whatever he saw inside must have been extraordinary.
Before Riza could say anything, Roy stepped into the TARDIS, looked around in wonder, and then peeked out to make sure the exterior had not magically altered itself in his absence. "It's…impossible," he gasped, stepping back inside, then leaping out as if it would swallow him. He stuck his head in once more, then pulled back and walked two laps around the TARDIS before stepping inside once more.
Riza was growing increasingly concerned at this point and intentionally kept her distance from the box that had her future husband so entranced. "Roy…Roy, it's just a box," she said quickly, wondering if he'd gone mad. When he stepped out to face her, Riza recognized the I-have-to-study-it face immediately.
"Riza." His voice was focused and insistent, as if he was telling her the most important thing in the world. "It's bigger on the inside," he said, jerking his thumb toward the TARDIS.
"Don't be stupid," Riza said, shoving her gun at him. "Hold this." Gripping her wedding dress, Riza stormed over to the TARDIS entrance, intent on proving him wrong. What she saw made her freeze in her tracks. What appeared to be an ordinary blue box on the outside was a whole different world on the inside. It was like nothing Riza had ever seen; no words came close to describing the large, complicated room that lay before her eyes. She could hardly believe it, and it was right in front of her. She blinked several times, then did a lap around the TARDIS, much to Roy's amusement, and tapped the sides and back for anything that could trigger such an illusion. "All right," she said, throwing her hands up in submission. "I give up. Who are you?" she asked the Doctor.
"I'm the Doctor," he reminded her. "I'm a Time Lord from Gallifrey, and this is my time machine."
"Time Lord," Roy repeated. "Sounds…fancy."
"You don't seem surprised," the Doctor noted.
Roy shrugged. "I've seen enough impossible things in the past few years to last a lifetime. The near-destruction of a race, alchemy used in ways unimaginable, artificially-created humans, a living philosopher's stone, immortality, the Portal of Truth…Been there, done that. I'll be honest, though…I've never met a Time Lord."
"What does that even mean?" Riza asked.
"I'm from another world," he told her. "What, you think your world is the only one that exists?"
"There are theories about life beyond ours," Roy said pensively, "but none have been proven. We don't have the capability of travelling beyond our world, and we're pretty happy where we are. A handful of alchemists are obsessed with other worlds, but no one takes them seriously."
"Shame," the Doctor said, "because there is so much out there. Billions upon billions of different planets, life forms, stars…I'm hundreds of years old and haven't even put a dent in it. I can go anywhere I want in time and space, but I can never possibly dream of seeing all the universe has to offer."
Roy gazed at the TARDIS again, lost in thought. "A time machine, huh? You can really travel through time?"
"Yes," the Doctor said. "Tell me, General Mustang…would you like to see for yourself?"
Roy tore his gaze from the TARDIS and whipped around to face the Doctor, immediately at attention. "You're serious?"
"I am. I ruined your wedding, didn't I? I think I owe you," the Doctor said reasonably. "Equivalent exchange."
"You're willing to take us anywhere in time and space. Anywhere at all. Right now?" Roy asked, trying to wrap his head around this. The Doctor nodded.
"I'm in my wedding gown," Riza objected.
"Yes, you are," the Doctor affirmed, trying not to think about the irony of her statement. "I can drop you by your place before we go. You can clean up and get changed, and I'll take you anywhere you want and anytime you want. Within reason," he added necessarily. "I'll have you back five minutes after you left. No one will even know you left. What do you say?"
"I'm in," Roy said, a look of determination crossing his features.
"Hold on. Let's talk about this," Riza objected.
"I'm going," he told her simply, "and there's nothing you can say to change my mind. Whether you come or not is up to you."
Riza wanted to slap him. He should know by now that she would never let him go anywhere she couldn't follow. Someone had to watch his back, because he sure as hell never did. He could be such an idiot sometimes, but she loved him with every fiber of her being. She would certainly not stand by and let him go on such a strange and unknown trip without her. If he didn't have her to step in, he could do something stupid, or even get himself killed. Roy was a great man, and a clever one at that, but they both knew he'd be long since dead without her.
Riza didn't have to voice any of this. Roy took one look at her face and knew she was irritated with him, but would never let him leave her behind. He was lucky to have her, and he would never take her for granted.
"It'll be fun," he assured her. "Just relax for once."
Riza had a growing feeling that this trip would be about more than simply relaxing. Roy had something in mind. A specific time, a specific man. If she had to be the one to stop him from doing something reckless, then so be it. "Fine. Let me get changed first," she requested.
"I have a time in mind I'd like to take Riza," Roy told the Doctor when he re-entered the TARDIS. "Don't tell her; consider it my wedding gift to her."
"All right, then," the Doctor said, turning to face him. "What do you have in mind?"
"Year 1914," Roy responded, writing down the specific date, time, and location. "This was the night Riza and I first met," he lied smoothly. "I thought it might be a good first place to start."
The Doctor had seen plenty of aggrieved people desperate to use the TARDIS as a means of bringing loved ones back, and he could see right through General Mustang's façade. Just as Riza played along, however, the Doctor decided to as well. If it came down to it, he would stop the general from breaking the laws of time, as he'd done with numerous others he let aboard his ship. "All right, then," he said smoothly. "1914 it is."
Riza joined them a few minutes later, fully equipped and uniformed.
"Good, we're ready to go," the Doctor said, smiling. "The first and most important rule of travelling with me is that we are observers. When going back in time, you must remember there are fixed points that must not be meddled with, or you will destroy the fabric of the timeline and very, very bad things will happen. Don't wander off, and if you come across your past selves, don't make contact. Paradoxes are highly very bad. Any questions? No? Good. Hold onto something," the Doctor told them as he pulled a lever. "Allons-y!"
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or its fantastic characters, nor do I own anything Doctor Who related.
AN: Here it comes, guys! The moment you've all been waiting for! As always, shoot me reviews, because it makes me happy and motivates me to update more quickly! ;)